


Protocol 66

by Leftover_Cocaine



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-16
Updated: 2017-02-17
Packaged: 2018-09-24 21:28:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9787724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leftover_Cocaine/pseuds/Leftover_Cocaine
Summary: Rex and Ahsoka have started their own life away from the clone war that rages throughout the galaxy. However, after a distress call from their old friend Fives, they find themselves right back in the heart of the conflict and this time tasked with a much more important mission. With the help of some trusted friends, they attempt to end the conflict once and for all.





	1. The End of an Era

 

Ahsoka and Anakin stood outside the Jedi temple. Anakin had followed Ahsoka outside in hopes that he could get her to return to the Jedi order, but it appeared as though she had made up her mind. Their conversation was short, but it was still hard for both of them. Ahsoka had no idea where she would go or what she would do now that she was no longer a part of the Jedi order. But the only thing she knew was that she wanted to get away from it now after being falsely accused and framed. She _had_ to get away. After saying what she thought would be the last thing she’d ever say to him, she turned away from her now former master. She took one step towards the staircase at the end of the courtyard when she heard Anakin’s voice speak one last time.

 

            “I understand.” Anakin said. “More than you realize, I understand wanting to walk away from the order.”

 

            Ahsoka slightly turned her head back, unable to look at him and see the pain he was feeling. “I know.” was all she was able to get out as she fought back tears. She wasn’t able to contain them much longer as she began to walk away from the temple for the last time. She felt the tears burn in her eyes and sting her as they ran down her cheeks.  


            “Ahsoka wait!” a familiar voice shouted, much gruffer than Anakin’s. She also heard footsteps slamming on the ground at a rapid pace, growing louder and louder as they drew closer to her. She knew who it was, and was ashamed to say she had completely forgotten about him when she made her decision to leave the Jedi order.

 

 _Rex..._ She thought.

 

Rex had been one of the only ones who believed her when she said she had been falsely accused of murder and one of the only ones who stood by her side when she went on trial. But most of all, he was the only one she couldn’t bear to leave. He meant the world to her. He’d been with her through thick and thin; every battle, mission, and loss she’d suffered he had stood by her side. There wasn’t a single thing in the galaxy he wouldn’t do for her. She loved him and he loved her. Yet, here she stood at the edge of the Jedi temple courtyard, about to leave him for good.

 

The tears kept coming, and a lot more of them. She didn’t want to look back at him, knowing it would kill him to see her like this. But she did anyway, stopping the clone dead in his tracks.

 

“Ahsoka…” He said, removing his helmet as he approached her now at a much more gradual pace. “I can’t let you go… not after everything we’ve been through… everything we’ve done together… not to mention all the things we haven’t done yet…”

 

No matter how hard she tried she couldn’t bring herself to say anything. She just stared into his hazel eyes. Tears streaming down her face.  
  
            “What about all those plans we made for the future? All those nights we spent together? All those countless times you said you would never leave my side?” He was almost shouting now, she had never seen him so distressed “Did that even mean a thing to you?”

 

“Rex, I’m sorry…”

 

“Don’t say sorry Ahsoka! You don’t have to go! I need you; you’re the only thing I’ve got; you’re the only thing I’m good for…”

 

“Rex don’t say things like that—“  
  
            “But it’s _true_ Ahsoka! You make me feel like I’m someone special. Like my life has meaning! Without you—“

 

He paused, tightly shutting his eyes and looking away.

 

“Without you I’m just another clone. A nobody; a soldier bred for the single purpose of fighting wars; without you I’m practically an object!”

 

Ahsoka tightly closed her eyes and clenched her fists at the thought of leaving Rex like that. And the things he was saying were breaking her heart.

 

“Rex,” She said softly, putting her hand on his cheek. “I love you…”

 

“Then why are you leaving me!?” He shouted as he pushed her hand away, his eyes beginning to water.

 

Ahsoka couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Rex was the bravest and strongest person she knew. But here he stood right in front of her with tears in his eyes as he begged her not to leave.

 

“If you left I don’t think I’d ever see you again. I can’t never see you again Ahsoka, I just can’t…”  


            “But Rex I can’t just forget what happened. So much has changed in such a short time…”

 

“We can get through it though! I’ll help you! I’ll do anything as long as you don’t leave!”

 

Ahsoka sighed and looked down at the ground, she didn’t know what to say. She hated the idea of leaving Rex but she couldn’t go back to the Jedi order after what they had done to her. Then something dawned on her that should’ve done so a long time ago. She took his hands and looked back up at him once more.

 

“Come with me…” She said, looking him dead in the eyes.

 

“Wh-what?” Rex said in disbelief.

 

“Come with me Rex. We can start our own life together, just you and me…”

 

“Ahsoka you know I can’t do that. It’s not the same for a clone as it is for a Jedi. I was born into this; the only reason I _was_ born was to be a soldier. I can’t just abandon all of it…” He looked away “I’m bound to it…”

 

“But Rex, Is that really what you want?”

 

            He looked back at her once more. It felt like that was the first time anyone had ever asked him that question. He didn’t know what to say at first so he just sort of stared at her in awe. Then, collecting his thoughts, he closed his eyes and calmly spoke.

 

            “No.” he said, shaking his head. “No it’s not.”

 

            “Then come with me! We’ll start over; somewhere else; somewhere where we don’t have to keep everything a secret, somewhere where we’re not fighting a war, somewhere we’re you’re not a clone and I’m not a Jedi; we’re just Ahsoka and Rex…”

 

            “Ahsoka, no matter how much I want to I can’t just run away from my duties as a republic soldier. It’s not a choice for us, It’s—“

 

            “Go with her Rex.” A deep, cool voice said. Both Rex and Ahsoka looked over to see that Anakin was still standing outside with them, and had been listening the whole time.

 

            “Sir?” Rex said, convinced he had misheard the general.

 

            “Go with her.” Anakin began walking towards the two of them. “I know what it’s like to be in love Rex, it’s a wonderful feeling, and it’s not something you should let go to waste just because of who or what everyone else wants you to be.”

           

            Rex and Ahsoka both just stared at him, speechless. Anakin smiled as best he could and then continued.

 

            “I can’t watch you two hurt like this any longer, and I couldn’t live with myself if I let you make the wrong decision. You two need each other. A lot more than the republic needs you.”

 

            Rex and Ahsoka still didn’t know what to say, they glanced once more at each other and then back to Anakin.

 

            “You knew all along, didn’t you?” Rex said after a long pause, finally breaking the silence.

 

            “I had my speculations. But it would be awfully hypocritical of me to try and tell either of you not to chase love. And not to mention selfish after all that you’ve been through together. You two really have something special and I don’t want to see that fall apart.”

 

            Rex and Ahsoka smiled, Ahsoka wiping her eye. They both knew what Anakin was talking about when he said it would be hypocritical of him to not let them run away with each other, but they didn’t ask any further questions.

 

            “Thank you general Sky—“ Rex started to say, but Anakin cut him off.

 

            “Anakin. You don’t have to call me general anymore Rex. I’m no longer your commander.” He said

 

            “Thank you, Anakin. I’m forever in your debt.”

 

            Anakin smiled one last time before he turned around and began to walk back towards the temple entrance. Ahsoka and Rex watched in silence as he walked away. Rex felt Ahsoka slide her hand into his as they watched Anakin leave. Rex turned to face her once more and smiled at her. She smiled back. He dawned his helmet and they began to walk down the steps of the Jedi temple, together.


	2. An Urgent Message

Fives felt himself gradually drift back into consciousness after having had his biochip removed. His gaze drifted around the room as the grogginess began to clear away and things came into focus. He blinked several times before he sat up. He then turned to face his droid companion, AZ-3, who was floating next to the cot he sat on.

 

            “So—Was it in there? The chip?” he asked him.

 

            “Yes.” The droid answered, holding a slate of glass with a piece of organic mater cased inside it in his hand. “Although unlike clone trooper Tup’s chip, yours is perfectly intact.”

 

Fives looked away, and then looked back at the droid.

 

“So what happens now?” He asked, unsure of why he even did so the second the words left his mouth.

 

AZ-3 gave him the exact answer he was expecting. That there was no way of knowing what would happen to him now that his chip had been removed. He told him that there was a chance he could snap just like Tup did when his chip malfunctioned, or even worse, die. Although that sent a chill down Fives’s spine, he was still determined as ever to get to the bottom of what was had happened to his friend Tup and what the reasoning behind the implantation of biochips in clone troopers was.

 

“Well then do you have any idea when the chips were implanted in us?” Fives asked AZ-3.

 

            “It is likely they were implanted during the earliest stages of development, probably when you and Tup were only embryos.” The droid answered.

 

            “And do we have any way of knowing _how many_ of us have them?”

 

            “There is no way to know for sure unless we do a scan of some sort on the clone embryos or any other clones for that matter.”

 

            “Well I guess that’s a question for another day I guess…”

 

            With that, Fives hopped down off the cot and grabbed his helmet and blaster. Placing the helmet over his face to mask the tattoo on the side of his head.

 

            “What will we do now?” AZ-3 asked, hovering over to Fives’s side.

 

            “Now we find a way off Kamino… but first we have to contact some friends of mine… I think they can help. I need you to grab all the medical equipment you need to do the procedure you did on me again aside from the anesthetic, they should have that on board their ship.” Fives replied

 

            “These _friends_ of yours. Who are they? And how can they help us?”

 

            “Well for one thing they’ll be able to get us off Kamino if we’re able to contact them since they have a ship and we don’t. Second, I’ve known them both a long time, I know we can trust them with what we’ve found and they wont rat us out to the republic.”

 

            “Are you sure of that?”

 

            “Yes. Positive.”

 

            “And what of the chips?”

 

            “We have to take them with us. The more information we can gather from them the better.”

 

“Alright. But where will we go?

 

Fives sighed.

 

“I don’t know…” he said. “All the republic forces on Kamino are looking for a clone with a medical droid, I don't know how we’re going to get out of here without getting caught unless I could—“

 

Fives cut himself off when a large briefcase in the corner of the room caught his attention, he walked over towards it.

 

“Unless you could what?” AZ-3 asked, following Fives over to the corner of the room.

 

Fives picked up the briefcase and carefully emptied its contents. He then turned back to face AZ-3.

 

“Think you could fit in here?” He asked the droid.

 

AZ-3 hovered over to the briefcase and lowered himself down inside of it.

 

“Yes. Barely, but yes.” He said.

 

“Alright, now just be as quiet as you possibly can.” Fives instructed, and with that he closed the briefcase.

 

Fives opened the door of the room he and AZ-3 were in and poked his head out just enough so he could see the hallway to make sure the coast was clear, then he made his move. Quickly, Fives exited the room while no one was looking and then slowed his pace to a normal walk once the door had automatically shut behind him. Now all he had to do was get to a computer, then he could contact Rex and Ahsoka for help. What he didn’t realize before he put his plan into action was that a clone carrying a medical briefcase was a fairly unusual sight. He kept seeing Kaminoans and other clones look over at him as he passed through the hallways. He felt his head start to heat up and sweat begin to drip down his face. His heart was racing. He knew if he got caught it was over.

 

_Come on Fives, just a few more turns…_ he thought.

 

The looks from clones and Kaminoans didn’t stop; in fact he was almost sure one of the clones that had spotted him had started to follow him. Luckily at the last minute the trooper turned the corner and walked away.

 

_Alright, almost there. There should be a computer in this room._

He turned into the room, opened the door and sure enough there was a large monitor and computer on the wall across the room from the one the door was on. Fives began to walk over to it until he heard a soft-spoken voice coming from the right side of him.

 

“CT-717 what are you doing here, why aren’t you at your post?” the voice said.

            Fives turned to see a Kaminoan approaching him. Realizing that there was no way he could realistically come up with a believable answer to this, and that the Kaminoan didn’t know who he was. He went with his first instinct.

 

            Fives swung the metal briefcase that AZ-3 was hiding in and slammed it right into the face of the Kaminoan, knocking him off his feet and leaving him lying on the floor unconscious. It wasn’t until after he had done this that he realized that this might have not been the best idea. He knew it was only a matter of time until someone came into the room and saw the knocked out Kaminoan and know he was the runaway clone.

            He pulled off his helmet and let AZ-3 out of the briefcase.

 

            “Why did you do that?” AZ-3 immediately asked once he was let out of the briefcase.

 

            “I know, I wasn’t thinking. But I can’t undo what I’ve already done. Let’s just get this message sent and get out of here!”

 

            Fives quickly typed in the code that Rex had given him if he ever needed to contact him. He hadn’t spoken with Rex or Ahsoka in quite some time, so he hoped they still used the same code. He tightly shut his eyes and crossed his fingers as the computer searched for the code.   
  


            “Yes!” he shouted when he heard the computer ding and the success icon on the screen.

 

            “Rex, Ahsoka, it’s me Fives. I’m stuck here on Kamino and I’m on the run. I don’t have time to explain, but every single clone in the republic army could be at risk. The Kaminoans are trying to keep something secret from the Jedi and if they find me they’ll probably kill me. I need you to meet me on Kamino at Tipoca city and get me and my friend out of here. I’ll explain everything when you land I promise!”

 

            He then pressed a button on the computer and ended his message. Sighing with relief that he had gotten through to them.

 

            “Do you think they will have enough time to come and rescue us?” AZ-3 asked.

 

            Fives frowned

 

            “I don’t know AZ.” He said looking down at the computer screen. “I guess all we can do now I hope for the best.”


	3. Message Received

Ahsoka was awoken by the little amount of sunlight that was able to squeeze through the cracks of the blinds on her and Rex’s bedroom window along with her loud and obnoxious alarm. The two of them now lived in a small apartment in Coco Town after having left the Jedi order and the republic army. In the past couple of months they had opened a small coffee shop near Dex’s Diner. However today, was their first day off in quite some time.

 

            Ahsoka sat up right in bed and yawned and stretched, hearing her spine crack as she did so. She then lay back down and stretched her arm out across Rex’s bare chest and slowly stroked it with her hand.

 

            “Rise and shine Rex.” She said softly, but loud enough for him to hear. She felt him stir and he then raised his arms to wipe his eyes of sleep. He sat up and stretched just as she had done and then lay back down beside her, smiling at her when he returned to eye level. She smiled back.

 

            “Good morning love.” He said.

 

            Ahsoka leaned in and kissed him before the two of them crawled out of bed to get dressed.

 

            “You’ll never change will you?” she asked Rex, smiling playfully at him as she watched him put on his clone armor and waist length cloak he now wore over it.

 

            “What do you mean?” He asked, picking up his helmet and then turning to face her.

 

            “You still wear your old clone armor, even on your days off.”

 

            He smiled and shrugged.

 

            “Guess I just got used to wearing it.”

 

            She returned his smile and then turned her head away from him at the sound of a loud beeping noise.

 

            “Do you hear that?”

 

            Rex tilted his head and listened.

 

            “Yeah it sounds like my old republic communicator. I can’t believe I still have that thing. I haven’t used it in ages.”

 

            He walked over to the closet where the sound was coming from and sure enough, it was the comlink. He picked it up and held it up to his ear.

 

            When she saw him not get up, Ahsoka walked over to Rex and put her hand on his shoulder. She kneeled down next to him and asked him what was wrong. He looked back at her and handed her the device. She turned her head away and held it up to her ear to listen.

 

           

“Rex, Ahsoka, it’s me Fives. I’m stuck here on Kamino and I’m on the run. I don’t have time to explain, but every single clone in the republic army could be at risk. The Kaminoans are trying to keep something secret from the Jedi and if they find me they’ll probably kill me. I need you to meet me on Kamino at Tipoca city and get me and my friend out of here. I’ll explain everything when you land I promise!”

 

“What do you think is going on?” She asked, turning back towards Rex.

 

“I don’t know, but it doesn’t sound good.” He said.

 

“What do you think happened to Fives?”

 

“I don’t have a clue, but we have to go help him.” He paused, looking down and shutting his eyes briefly. “Or at least try, for all we know he could be dead by now…”

 

Ahsoka frowned, looking down at her hands. There was a long moment of silence from both of them as they came to the realization that Fives could indeed be dead.   
  
            “I’ll go get the ship ready.” Rex said, breaking the silence. Ahsoka looked up at him.   


“Okay, I’m coming with you.” She said after another brief pause.

 

Rex picked up his blaster pistols and chain gun from the closet. He placed the pistols in his holsters and slung the chain gun over his shoulder, dawning his helmet after doing so. Ahsoka grabbed her lightsabers and attached them to her belt and they rushed out the door.

 

They hurried down the stairs as fast as they could to get outside to the landing pad where their ship was. Anakin had been nice enough to let them keep the Twilight after he was issued a new Jedi starfighter by the republic. They had had to get the ship repaired quite a bit for it wasn’t in particularly good condition when they first got it. But after fixing it up it was almost as good as new.

 

They hopped into the seats facing the ship controls, Rex as the pilot and Ahsoka as the co-pilot.

 

“Do you remember how to get to Kamino?” Ahsoka asked Rex as the two of them quickly readied the ship for take off.

 

“Yeah I’ve got the coordinates. Shouldn’t take us more than a half hour once we get into hyperspace.”

 

Ahsoka nodded and returned her attention back to what she was doing. It had been a while since her and Rex had left Coruscant since they mostly just used the ship to get to and from different parts of the planet. Quite frankly the last time either of them had gone into space was when they were still fighting for the republic army.

 

“You remember how to do this right?” Ahsoka asked, letting herself become worried by her thoughts.

 

“Remember how to do what?” Rex asked.

 

“You know, fly in hyperspace. We haven’t done it in so long.”

 

Rex looked over at her.

 

“Of coarse I still remember.”

 

“Okay. Sorry. I’m just worried…”

 

Rex sighed

 

“I am too,” he said. “Let’s just hope we’re not too late…”

 

            Rex was right on target with his estimate of how long it would take them to get to Kamino. Their trip lasted no longer than thirty minutes. After that it only took about ten more minutes to enter the Kaminoan atmosphere and locate Tipoca city.

 

            “Did he give us a location?” Ahsoka asked Rex as they neared the city.

 

            “Unfortunately not.” Rex said. “And we don’t have any way to contact him. It looks like we’re going to have to land on one of the platforms outside and start from there.”

 

            “But we can’t do that! If they really are trying to kill Fives and they find out that we’ve come to rescue him they’ll probably try to kill us too.”

 

            Rex sighed, realizing Ahsoka was right.

            “Alright, then we need to think of a plan B.” He said.

 

            Rex pulled out his binoculars and began to search for a safe space to land where they wouldn’t stir up any trouble. Just when they thought they’d have no hope of finding and rescuing Fives, Rex spoke up.

 

“Wait just a second…” He said.

 

            “What? What’s wrong?” Ahsoka asked, turning her head to face him.

 

            “It looks like somebody is firing off blaster bolts on the far side of the city.”

 

            “What? Where?

           

            “Over there.”

 

            He passed the binoculars to Ahsoka and pointed to one of the outdoor landing pads on the far side of the city, the flashing lights were faint due to the rain and how far off in the distance they were coming from, but Ahsoka still saw them.

 

            “It’s Fives. We have to go.” Rex said.

 

            “Are you sure?”

 

            “Positive. This is either another distress beacon or…” Rex cut himself off.

 

            “Or what?” Ahsoka asked, looking at him again.

 

            “Or we’re going to land straight in the middle of a battle.”

 

            The last of the ship ride didn’t last longer than a minute. As they approached the landing pad the blaster bolts grew brighter and more vivid. Just as Rex had feared, there was a gunfight going on. Three clones with gray trim on their armor were chasing after a fourth clone in basic white armor that was accompanied by a medical droid. The fourth clone also appeared to be carrying some sort of briefcase.   


            “That’s Fives!” Rex shouted, pointing to the clone on the run.

 

            “You find a place to land. I’ll jump down and give him some help.” Ahsoka said, getting up from her seat and heading towards ship’s storage compartment.

 

            “Take this” Rex said, tossing her a DC-15 blaster that had been sitting on the dashboard.

 

            Ahsoka caught the blaster.

 

            “Why?” She asked  


            “Using a lightsaber will stir up too much attention and make it easier for them to track us down.”

 

            Ahsoka nodded and rushed to the back of the ship. Rex had already opened the cargo door at the back of the ship and was hovering at a low enough height for her to jump. She ran out the back of the ship and leapt onto the landing platform. Seconds after she landed, she saw a large group of at least twelve more clones rush out of the door in pursuit of Fives.

 

            _I’ve got a bad feeling about this_. She thought.


	4. Escape From Kamino

Fives ran as fast as he could while doing his best to not get hit by one of the blast bolts being fired at him. Just as he thought he was running out of places to run, he saw a large barrier he could hide behind. With AZ-3 in tow, he got behind the barrier and returned fire at the troopers that had been shooting at him. He nearly hit one of the troopers when he saw the door open once again and a large group of clones walked out with their blasters aimed at him. Fives slid back down into a sitting position and laid his blaster down on the ground. 

“Forget it AZ,” He said. “We’re done for…” 

He shut his eyes as he heard the footsteps of the clones draw closer and closer. Trying as best he could to come to peace with his fate. The footsteps grew even louder, and he knew they were almost to the barricade where he and AZ-3 were sitting. Any second now they would turn the corner and be pointing their blasters at him. He took a deep breath before he picked up his own blaster, determined to make one final stand before his own brothers gunned him down. 

Just when he had lost all hope he heard blaster fire coming from behind the barricade. He peaked over the top of it to see that the clones that had been following him had now spread out and were firing at something else. This was his chance. He handed the briefcase to AZ-3 and then grabbed him by the arm and ran out from behind the barricade. He opened fire on the clones that were now facing away from him, nailing one of them in the shoulder and another in the chest. Knocking them both off their feet. A few other clones turned back towards him and returned fire in his direction. He jolted to the side as a blaster bolt shot past AZ-3’s hand, nearly knocking the briefcase away from him. At the sight of that, Fives pulled the medical droid close to him, using his body as a shield for the AZ-3 and the briefcase.

He turned his head back to the action and saw the three clones that had been shooting at him were now charging towards him. Fives fired his blaster at them again, and heard a loud scream when he nailed one of them in the kneecap. The clone immediately dropped to the ground and one of the others stopped to aid him, leaving only one remaining clone charging at Fives. 

“Run AZ, run!” Fives shouted to the droid behind him.

The medical droid hovered away as fast as he could while fives took on the last of the three clones. The clone leapt into the air, tackling Fives and bringing him to the ground. He then proceeded to remove Fives’s helmet and slam his blaster into his face. Fives screamed out in pain as the hard, metal weapon slammed into the side of his mouth. Without giving him any time to recover, the trooper slugged him in the stomach. Causing Fives to spit blood onto his mask. Fives saw his chance to take the upper hand when the trooper lifted his hand to wipe the blood from his helmet, and he grabbed the other clone by the throat. He jerked him down from on top of him and slammed his body onto the ground. The trooper was dazed for a second, but that gave Fives enough time to pick up his blaster and hold it to the head of the other clone.

“I’m sorry brother…” He breathed, and then pulled the trigger. 

It felt like time stopped for a second after he shot the clone. All the noise of the rain falling, the blasters firing, and AZ-3 shouting at him to come went silent. He couldn’t believe what he had just done. 

“Fives come on! We have to go!” AZ-3 kept shouting. “Their ship has landed! Your friends are here!” 

But Fives still just sat there, panting.

I killed my own brother… He thought. 

It wasn’t until felt a hand grab him by the arm that he was brought back to reality. The hand was much smoother and clearly organic, it also had a much firmer grip than he was expecting. He knew it couldn’t have been AZ-3. He felt another hand grab his shoulder and turn his body around. 

“Ahsoka?” He gasped. 

“Fives we have to go!” She shouted, trying to pull him up to his feet. 

“R-right! Let’s go.” 

Ahsoka helped Fives to his feet and the three of him, her, and AZ-3 rushed to the ship as quickly as they could. As they approached they saw Rex standing just outside the cargo door, firing his chain gun at the oncoming clones. 

“Good to see you in one piece Fives!” He shouted as Fives approached the ship with AZ-3 and Ahsoka. 

“Glad you made it Rex!” Fives shouted back.

The four of them rushed in through the back of the ship, firing at the oncoming clones as they did so. Once inside, Rex and Ahsoka quickly hopped back into the pilot and co-pilot seats and prepared the ship for take off. Fives could feel the ship vibrate and shake as the blaster bolts bounced off of it. AZ-3 peered out on of the windows. 

“We must leave now! If they damage the ship there is no hope of escape!” He announced, turning back to his comrades. 

“Almost ready!” Rex said, preparing the ship as quick as he could. 

Fives felt his heart pounding harder and harder as the shaking of the ship grew more intense. Knowing that it was only a matter of time until the clones outside were close enough to pry open the cargo door, he tightly shut his eyes and clenched his fists, sweat running down his forehead. 

“Get ready!” he heard Rex shout as the ship began to move and levitate off the ground. But they weren’t out of the woods yet. 

“CT-7567 they are loading a rocket launcher!” AZ-3 shouted, hovering over to where Rex was sitting. 

“I didn’t need to know that!” Rex shouted angrily at the droid as he pulled up on the ship controls. 

“They are going to blow us up if you don’t hurry!” the droid continued, his head spinning round and round. “We are doomed!”

“Fives! Would you shut your blasted droid up!?” Rex barked, turning back to look at Fives.

Fives grabbed AZ-3 and forced him to face him. 

“Calm down AZ, we’re gonna make it.” 

“Ahsoka, access the ship cannons, knock that rocket launcher out!” Rex said. 

Ahsoka nodded and rotated the forward facing cannon backward so it was facing the now growing battalion of clones. Fives jammed his eyes shut and squeezed AZ-3 when he heard the cannons start to fire. He couldn’t bear to watch his brothers die. Just seconds after the cannons started firing the ship jolted forward and Fives and AZ-3 went sailing to the back of the ship cabin, colliding with the wall with a colossal thud. The rainy skies of Kamino soon vanished and became he vast, stary backdrop of space. 

“We did it.” Rex said, pulling off his helmet and dropping it to the floor. “We’re safe.” 

There was a moment of silence while everyone took a breather. Not even AZ-3 said anything. Fives’s heart was still pounding. He couldn’t tell if he wanted to jump with joy or cry. So much had just happened in such a short time, too much. He sat down in one of the passenger chairs and put his hands on his face. He tilted his chair back and shut his eyes, and drifted off into a deep, well-needed sleep.


	5. Mystery of the Biochips

After arriving back on Coruscant, Ahsoka and Rex carried Fives back to their apartment after AZ-3 insisted that he needed more rest. After laying him down on top of the bed and relieving him of his armor, they sat down at the table in the living room with AZ-3. Ahsoka had so many questions she wanted to ask the droid but she couldn’t decide which one to start with. Everything had happened so sudden that she hadn’t really gotten a chance to collect her thoughts about the whole thing. Luckily it seemed like Rex had his thoughts in order though, so he was the one to start the conversation. 

“Why were the clones on Kamino trying to kill you two?” He asked. 

“Clone trooper Fives had been placed under arrest after he had me remove what we thought was a tumor from his friend Tup. In actuality it turned out to be some sort of biochip.” AZ-3 answered

The droid hovered over to the briefcase he and Fives had brought with them from Kamino and brought it over to the table. He placed it face up on the table and opened it. He pulled out a glass slate that contained a very small piece of decayed flesh. 

“Biochip?” Ahsoka asked, exchanging glances with Rex. 

“Yes, I believe that this is something that was implanted in clone trooper Tup when he was merely an embryo.” AZ-3 answered. “I found another chip, identical in structure, but functioning properly in our friend Fives.” 

“Why were these ‘biochips’ as you call them implanted in Fives and Tup in the first place?” Rex asked. 

“And what happened to Tup when his malfunctioned?” Ahsoka added. 

“I am unsure as to why these biochips were implanted in either clones, but further analysis of the chips may give us that answer. As to what happened, clone trooper Tup suffered some sort of breakdown during a battle and killed one of his Jedi generals. He also continued to recite the phrase ‘good soldiers follow orders’ as if he had been given orders to kill the Jedi. When general Shaak Ti was in the medical facility with him, he attempted to do the same to her.” 

Rex and Ahsoka looked at each other once more. They both were completely baffled by what the droid was telling them. 

“That doesn’t make any sense though, who would’ve ordered Tup to kill a Jedi?” Ahsoka said.

“And on top of that, what possessed him to actually go through with it?” Rex added. “I remember Tup from when I was a captain in the republic army. He was one of my men. He admired the Jedi. Even if the chancellor himself ordered him to kill a Jedi there’s no way he’d ever do it.” 

“Clone trooper Fives reported that it was as though Tup could not help himself.” AZ-3 said. “The Kaminoan doctor that had been working with Tup believed he had been affected by some sort of virus. Fives however thinks otherwise.” 

“Well what does Fives think then?” Rex asked.

“Fives believes that it was the chip’s malfunctioning that drove Tup insane and caused him to attack the Jedi. He also believed that the risk of the chips malfunctioning in other clones was too high and that they should be removed from all of those who have them.” AZ-3 answered.

“Do you know how many clones have these chips inside them?” Ahsoka asked, slipping her hand into Rex’s as she grew worried for him. 

“We were unable to find that out since we had to escape right after Fives had me remove his chip. However there is a high probability that there is one inside you as well CT-7567.” AZ-3 said. 

Rex looked down and sighed.

“Is there any way we can gather more information about these things?” He asked. 

“Yes, as I said before, further analysis of the chip may give us the answer as to why the chips were implanted in the clones and why Tup’s breakdown happened the way it did.” AZ-3 responded.

Ahsoka looked up at Rex, a worried expression on her face. 

“I think you’d better go check on Fives AZ.” Rex said.

“Right, I will do that immediately.” The droid responded, and with that he left the room. 

“Rex, I’m worried.” Ahsoka said once AZ-3 had exited the room. 

“I can tell you are Ahsoka, I’m worried too.” Rex retorted. 

“If this biochip thing is really inside you, who knows what could happen if something goes wrong with it.” 

“I know, but we still don’t know if it’s even there.” 

“It was in both Fives and Tup. It has to be there. AZ even said it was really likely you had one.” 

“Where would I get it removed though? It’s not like we can just barge into a hospital and have AZ-3 remove it from me.” 

Ahsoka looked down and sighed. She had no idea where they could go. It was likely the republic was looking for all four of them now and she knew even if they weren’t being searched for, entering a hospital with the intention of removing a clone’s biochip wouldn’t look too good in the eyes of the republic. 

Just as that thought crossed her mind she heard the door open. She looked up and saw Fives and AZ-3 enter the room. 

“I see you’re awake Fives, how’re you feeling?” Rex asked. 

“I’m fine Rex, don’t worry about me. You’re the one we should all be worried about.” Fives answered.

“Yeah I know…” Rex said, confusing Fives.

“What do you mean you know?” Fives said. 

“Rex and I were just talking about the fact that he probably still has a biochip inside him…” Ahsoka chimed in. 

“And that there’s nowhere we can go to get it out of me…” Rex said. 

“Fives and I have brought everything we need with us to do the procedure again aside from anesthetic.” AZ-3 said. Rex looked up.

“You did?” He asked. 

“Yeah, you’ve got a small med bay on the ship right? Don’t you have anesthetic in there? Since I figured you’d be picking me up I told AZ to bring everything he needs to do the procedure again.” said Fives. 

Ahsoka felt a wave of relief wash over her as she shut her eyes and let out a deep breath. 

He’s gonna be okay… She thought. 

After discussing how the procedure would go, the four of them made their way back out to the ship for Rex’s surgery. AZ-3 tilted Rex’s seat back once he had sat down in the seat. 

“Hold still, you will only be unconscious for a few minutes.” The droid said. 

Ahsoka had to turn away as the procedure went under way. She knew Rex would be fine, but she still just couldn’t stand the sight of any harm (or anything like it for that matter) coming to him. Fives caught on to how she was feeling and put a hand on her shoulder. 

“Don’t worry Ahsoka. He’s gonna be fine.” He said. 

Just as AZ-3 had said, the procedure only took a few minutes, and Rex was awake shortly after the chip had been taken out. 

“How do you feel CT-7567?” AZ-3 asked once Rex was conscious again.

“I’m fine AZ.” Rex replied. “And you can stop calling me by my number, Rex is my name.”

“Very well then Rex.” 

Rex sat up on the tilted back chair and turned to face Ahsoka and Fives. 

“What do we do now?” He asked. 

“Now we find out who’s behind these chips.” Fives said. “And what they’re for.” 

“I have some friends in the republic senate who may be able to help us find out who’s responsible.” Ahsoka said. “If you two want to help AZ find somewhere to analyze the chips and find out what they’re for, I could try and get some answers out of the government.” 

Rex and Fives looked at each other, and then turned back to face Ahsoka. 

“Alright.” Rex said. “Fives and I will help AZ analyze the chips and you’ll find out who’s behind them.” 

Ahsoka nodded. 

“Good luck Ahsoka.” Fives said. 

“You too.” She replied.


End file.
